The Goodguys West Coast Nationals In Pleasonton - Never Disappointing - Expanded For Web

R&C Top Tin PicksBelieve it or not, going to the same car shows year after year can get to be a bit boring. You'd be surprised at how each one starts to look like the year before. This situation isn't helped when you see the same cars parked in their same spot over and over again.

One of the events that bucks this trend is always the Goodguys West Coast Nationals in Pleasanton. As I've said before, I enjoy it because it's only about 400 miles away from home so I don't have to pack all my gear and jump on a plane and go through the whole airport experience. I can take a hot rod and enjoy the trip. This year though I wasn't coming from home, as I grouped it into the tail end of R&C's Bonneville cruise. After I was done playing out on the salt, I jumped into my '50 Ford loaner car and took the most indirect route I could find that would leave me on two-lane roads almost the entire way.

I took my son with me this year as my navigator. This was his third trip to the Alameda Fairgrounds for the show and he hasn't been disappointed yet. As always we met up with some good friends, made some new ones, and admired lots of really well-done cars.

We're already looking into planning a trip for next year's show and have been talking with our buddy, Eric Peratt at Pinkee's, to see what we can both come up with for an interesting road trip.